S ORTING RECORDS

To sort records in a datasheet in ascending or descending order (either alphabetically or numerically) by a particular field,

• Click on the column selector above the column whose field you wish to sort on.

• Choose the Sort Ascending or the Sort

Descending button in the Sort & Filter group.

To undo a sort,

• Click on the Remove Sort icon.

NOTE: Numbers in fields that have Text set as their Data Type, will not sort in numeric order. To sort these kinds of numbers, you’ll need to change the Data Type to Number or Currency in Design view.

F

You can also limit data to a table or query by filtering records for a selected value. For instance, you might only want to display in an inventory table those items purchased from a particular manufacturer.

The easiest filtering method is called Filter by Selection.

To filter by selection

• Click directly on the down arrow by a field name and you’ll see a list of all entries for that field, with checkboxes beside them.

• Deselect all the entries you want to filter out and click OK.

In the following example, bibliographic records are being filtered so that only titles withdrawn from the library’s collection appear.

The resulting list has shrunk from 16 entries to 5. See below.

The bottom of the table window indicates that a filter has been applied.

The result resembles that of a query in which records are limited. Filters, however, are temporary. Once you close the table or query, the filter is automatically removed, even if you are prompted to save.

Unfiltered data reappears once you reopen the table or query.

To remove a filter

• Click directly on the down arrow beside the field name.

• Select Clear filter from Location/Status and press OK.

R

Reports in Access allow you to print assembled data in a custom layout. You can create reports based on tables and/or queries.

There are several methods for creating a report. We will focus on the Reports wizard.

To create a report

• Click on the Create tab and then select Report Wizard from the Reports group.

• The Report wizard launches.

Select tables/queries:

• Click on the down arrow beside the Tables/Queries selection window and choose the table or query you’re basing your report on. (NOTE: You can select more than one. Repeat the step to add any additional table/queries.)

Add fields:

• All the fields from your selected tables/queries appear in the Available Fields: window.

• Use the button to add fields to the Selected Fields window, one-at-a-time.

• Use the button to move all available fields into the Selected Fields window at once.

• To remove individual fields from Selected Fields, click on each field and press .

• To remove all fields, press .

NOTE: The order in which you add fields to the Selected Fields window determines their default order in the report.

• When done, click Next.

Create grouping levels

• If desired, use the right arrow button to create grouping levels (group your report listing by a category or categories), and use the up and down arrow buttons to promote or demote a field’s position. The left arrow button removes selected fields from grouping levels.

• When done, click Next.

Sort by category (field)

• You can select a sort order for up to four

fields. Click on the down arrow to select a

field and then choose ascending or descending order.

• When done, click Next.

Choose a layout

• Choose from the various layout options and click Next.

• Choose a page orientation—portrait or landscape.

Assign a title

• Enter a title for your report, or stick with the default title assigned by Access.

• Make sure that Preview the report is selected and click Finish.

The report appears in Print Preview.

NOTE: Any changes to data in the source tables/queries are

automatically updated in your report.

Reformat your report

Notice in the example below that the text in the Title field appears truncated (part of the title in several row is cut off).

If you need to make adjustments to any column widths:

• Press Close Print Preview on the right side of the screen.

• Click on the down arrow beneath View on the left side of the screen and then select Layout View.

• Click once inside the column you wish to resize, in order to select it.

• Position the pointer between that column and the one beside it, as seen in the figure below.

• Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to re-size the column, releasing the mouse button when done.

 List of reports created thus far Return to Report View

• Click on the down arrow beneath View on the left side of the screen and then select Report View.

Close your report

• Click on the x in the upper right corner of the report.

• If prompted to save, choose Yes or No depending on what you want to do.

All reports you’ve created so far appear in a list in the Objects menu on the left side of the screen.

To delete a report

• Right mouse click on the table listing and choose Delete.

• Click Yes to confirm the deletion.